Machine for cutting furs



A MAHINB PoR CUTTING PUBS, No. 289,594.

Patented vDec. 4, 1883K. K

N. PETERS maw-Limogmpnu. whingem DA C.

' UNrrnn STATES Parana @Errea a LEV/TS F. ZIEGER, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

MACHINE FIOR CUTTING FURS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 289,594, dated December 4, 1883.

Application filed May 24, 1883. (No model.)

T0 @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Lnwrs F. Zinsen, acitizen of the United States, residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, .have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Cutting Furs, of which the following is a specifb/ cation, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings. 4

This invention relates to a new and improved machine for cutting furs to be used as trimmings, and has for its object to provide a machine adapted to cut furs having a' thick or thin skin in such a manner that the hair shall remain uninjured, and capable of being adj ustedto cut trimmings of any desiredwidth, the whole being arranged in such manner that the fur shall be firmly held in place in order to insure a straight out, and the entire pelt cut in one operation of the machine, as will more fully hereinafter be described, due reference beingl had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this speciiication, where- Figure 1 represents a perspective view of my improved device 5 Fig. 2, a transverse section 5 Fig. 3, a longitudinal section of the same, and Fig. 4L a view of the pelt after having been cut.

The letter Aindicates the bed or base of the machine, and is provided with studs or pins secured in the same in any suitable manner.

B indicates a hinged frame, hinged to the base, as shown, and is provided with a series of slats, B, placed equidistant from each other, and just sufficiently far apart to admit of the passage of the knives, as will more fully hereinafter appear. To each side of the hinged frame are secured grooved strips b, each provided with a groove, b.

C indicates a sliding frame or carriage, having lugs or projections c, adapted to fit the grooves b', said frame or carriage being adapted to freely reciprocate back and forth in the hinged frame B. This frame is composed of three bars placed substantially the same distance apart, and united at their ends by crossbars, as shown, said cross-bars being provided with lugs c, as above described. To each of the outside bars of this frame are securedbars D, provided upon their inner faces with vertical slots d, to receive the knives E. These slots or grooves are placed equidistant apart, in practice about one-quarter of an inch, and are so placed that the slots will exactly register with the spaces between the guide-slats of the hinged frame B, above described. The

cutting-knives are placedin these slots d, and are securely held in place by means'of setscreWs c. The central bars of the frame or carriage C is provided with any suitable han` dle, by means of which the carriage, with the knives, can be reciprocated back and forth.`

ening the nuts and moving the blocks forward or backward and rescrewing the nuts, as will 'readily be seen. A.

In practice I prefer to construct the bars D, carrying the knives, and the grooved side strips, b, of brass, and the rest of the machine, excepting the bed-piece, which is preferably 'of wood, I make of iron; but the machine may be formed of any suitable material Without'departing fromthe spirit of my invention.

lIhe operation of the device is as follows: The

hinged frame B is raised, and the fur-skin to be cut is then placed, fur downward, upon the pins c. These pins are arranged in rows, so that each row of pins will come substantially beneath each guide-slat B of the hinged frame B, and the cutting-knives will pass between the rows. The said pins being sharpened at the extremities, the frame B, upon being closed, forces the pelt down upon the pins, and the pins enter the skin just far enough to hold the pelt in place and prevent the same from moving laterally, and the fur passes down beneath the plane of the points of the pins. The knives having been adjusted to the proper distance apart-that is to say, if we wish to cut the fur into strips of three inches in width,we place a knife in every twelfth grooveof the knife carrying bars D-the carriage C is grasped by its handle and pushed quickly forward, and the enti re pelt is cut in one operation into strips. The knives are made vertically adjustable by means of the set-screws c, as before described, and are adjusted so as to project IOO j ust sufficiently far beneath the guide-slatsl of the hinged frame B as to cut completely through the skin, but no farther, thus obviatin g the danger of cutting the fur or hair; andthe shanks of the knives should be made long enough to permit of theknives being adjusted to cut skins of any known thickness or thinness. It will thus be readily seen that the fur-skin,no matter how thick or thin it may bc, can be quickly and thoroughly cut Without any injury to the fur or hair.

In cutting furs for trimmings the furs vary in color and the skins in thickness, and Where a great number of skins have been cut into strips, the strips of different thicknesses and shades become mixed, necessitating, in applying the trimming to goods, much labor and trouble in assorting the same, and in order to obviate this diliculty, in cutting the furs into strips I leave a verysmall portion of the same uncut, preferably at the center of the pelt, so that all the strips of one pelt are attached nntil they are ready to be applied to the goods to be trimmecl,\vl1en they can be separated by any suitable means. To cut the pelt in this manner, Ihave shown the sliding carriage C provided With two knife-carrying bars provided With knives, said bars being placed at such a distance apart that when in position for cutting one set of knives shall be over a point near the center of the pelt to be cut, and the other set at the edge ot' the same, and upon pushingthe frame forward to itslimit of movement the rst-mentioned set of knives will cut from near the center of the pelt completely to one edge, and from its other edge to not quite the center of beginning of the cut ot' the iirstmentioned set of knives, leaving the pelt cut into strips, but all of said strips being united, as above described, and as shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings. The movement of the carriage to cut pelts of different sizes can be adj listed by means of the blocks or stop bL before described. Having fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,

l. The combination,in a fur-cutting machine, With the bed or base A, having the frame B hinged thereto, said frame being provided With guide-slats B, of the reciprocating carriage C, carrying knives E adapted to pass under and between the said guide-slats B, substantially as described.

2. The combination,inafur-cutting machine, With the bed or base A, provided with pins a, of the frame B,hinged to said base A, and having guide-slatsB, and the reciprocating carriage C, carrying knives E, substantially as described.

3. The combination, in a fur-cuttin g machine, of the bed or base A, provided with pins a, the frameB,hingedtosaidbaseA,andhavingguideslats B, and the reeiprocatin g carriage G, carrying verticallyadjustable knives E, substantially as described, and for the purpose specified.

4. The combination, with the bed or base A, provided with pins a, of the frame B, hinged to said bed A, and having guide-slats B', the reciprocating carriage C, carrying verticallyadjustable knives E, and the stops b2, adapted to limit the movement of the said carriage C, substantially as described and shown, and for the purpose set forth.

5. The combination, with the bed or base A, provided with pinsv a, of the frame B, hinged to said bed A and having guide-sl-ats B', and the reciprocating carriage @,carrying two sets or series of knives, the Whole constructed and arranged so as to cut the` pelt into a number of strips all united at or about their centers, substantially as described and shown, and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

LEVIS F. ZIEGER.

Vi tnesses:

XVILLIAM J. MOGINTY, VIN'roN CooMBs. 

